#HARVEST MOON SERIES#

Natsume, for years, had been localizing the Bokujō Monogatari series ( Harvest Moon) and publishing the games that we all know and love to an English audience! However, in 2013, Natsume's rights to localize these games expired when the two companies split.

Newer Harvest Moon titles, however, have taken a different direction entirely. Although both titles still exist, fans have noticed that Story of Seasons continues on with a lot of traditional Harvest Moon game play and artwork. Nothing grows in the winter.One of the most frequent questions that we get is the change from Harvest Moon to Story of Seasons. Vegetables can be farmed only during the spring and summer, while during fall only mushrooms and the hay grass grows. The player can gather herbs and wild fruit in the forest, and can also fish a small pond. Not more than two different tools can be carrier in a bag in the same time by the character. The tools can get upgrades if the player completes side quests. If the player comes home after 6 pm and is married, he will lose a few affection points with his wife, unless the wife is Eve.Įach player gets several basic tools in the beginning, such as watering can, axe, hoe, sickle and hammer. The player can stay outside as much as he wants, as long as he does not reach zero at the energy level. The player has a limited time until it becomes dark. Besides the night part of the game, this release looks very much like one of the latest hits on Facebook, called Farmville.Įach year has four seasons, each lasting for 30 days. During the night the player can only access the bar, where non-playable characters gather to drink and talk. Cows may become sick and even die if they do not get food for a day.Ĭhickens can only die if they are left outside and allowed to be blown away in a storm. The chickens require feeding, cows must be talked to, brushed and milked in order to retain their health. The lack of water keeps the plants from growing, though it does not kill the crops. Vegetables develop over the course of the game-day and must receive water each day. The gameplay consists of daily tasks and using the time wisely for the best outcome in the end of the missions. Overall the implementation of the touch screen feels like an afterthought more then a fully implemented feature. This is a fun diversion the first few times, but it's hamstrung by the fact that actually playing the minigames is far more time consuming then simply automatically petting, sheering or milking your animals with one button. By picking up an item cleverly entitled 'Touch Screen Glove'? you'll unlock a few minigames where you can manually pet, sheer or milk your animals. Unfortunately the stylus implementation is half baked and you'll mostly use the stylus to navigate menus. Many were probably hoping that the DS touch screen would offer up some new tricks for the franchise. Again, this is really only an issue for veterans of the series because the game never looked bad. With the home versions having long since made the jump to 3d, it would have been nice to see at least some change to the Harvest Moon aesthetic. Veterans on the other hand might find it hard to shake the feeling that you've done this all before.įurther adding to the deja-vu is the fact the game looks and sounds exactly like its predecessors. Harvest Moon's open ended nature has always been its greatest strength, but for newer players this can lead to a problematic lack of direction. There are a lot of things to do in Harvest Moon you'll get to grow crops, care for animals, court a girl, gamble, and much more. How do you do this? By running a successful farm of course! Instead, you're tasked with saving the Harvest Goddess and her Sprites who have been unintentionally sent to another world by the Witch Princess. Harvest Moon DS is one of the few installments in the series that doesn't follow your inheritance of the farm from your grandpa.

Harvest moon